Welcome Great Pumpkin !


 

It seems that no food symbolizes the blustery fall season quite like pumpkins.

Archaeologists discovered the oldest domesticated pumpkin seeds in the Oaxaca Highlands of Mexico over 7,500 years ago.  They were among the first crops grown for human consumption in North America. Thanks to their solid, thick flesh, pumpkins proved ideal for storing during cold weather and in times of scarcity.

In 2018, world production of pumpkins (including squash and gourds) was 27.6 million tons, with China and India accounting for half of the total. Ukraine and Russia each produced about one million tons.


This week’s bake are Mini Pumpkin Cakes from Preppy Kitchen.  A delicious, delightful, and moist pumpkin cake, filled with fall spices, with a layer of cream cheese frosting inside, and frosted with buttercream to look like a bright orange pumpkin !


Here is the recipe:

Mini Pumpkin Cake


Ingredients


For the Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

1 pinch ground cloves

1 pinch nutmeg

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar  lightly packed

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup plain yogurt

1 can pumpkin puree  15 oz

1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs


For the Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract


For the Buttercream

1 lb confectioners' sugar

1 cup salted butter room temp

1/4 cup milk   add in slowly until you achieve desired consistency

1 tsp vanilla extract


Instructions


For the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour your mini bundt pans.

2. Cream the oils and sugar together, then add in the yogurt and mix until combined.

3. Mix in eggs one at a time, making sure one egg is incorporated into the mixture before

adding the next.

4. In a separate bowl sift the remaining dry ingredients together.

5. Mix dry ingredients into the sugar/egg mixture in three batches alternating with the pumpkin

puree. Mix until just combined.

6. Spoon or pipe your batter into the pans, filling 2/3 the way up.

7. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted into center comes out

clean.

8. Allow to cool in pan for about 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack.


For the Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Beat the cream cheese in a bowl until it is smooth. Add in vanilla and powdered sugar and mix

until ingredients are well-incorporated and desired consistency is reached.


For the Buttercream

Beat butter until light and fluffy, add vanilla and then slowly add sugar. Add milk a few

tablespoons at a time until desired consistency is reached. You will want a stiffer buttercream

so you might be using less milk. Finally add in the food coloring.  

10 drops orange food coloring  Amount of food coloring will depend on brand used and

desired color.


Assembly

1. Cut bottoms off cakes (less if you want tall pumpkins, more if you want rounder ones).

2. Pipe or smear cream cheese frosting onto the bottom of one mini bundt cake and sandwich

together.

3. Cover in orange buttercream and sculpt into a pumpkin shape. (I cut a yogurt container up to

make my tools. The best ones were a rounded off "V" to scrape the indents and a straight

edge to sooth the sides)

4. Top with a stem. I used a real pumpkin stem but you can make one from fondant or even very

thick buttercream.


Here are some pictures from the bake:




Have a great day !    Linda & Rob    ****

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